The Differences v2
by Labryinth013
Summary: Changed from the original one I uploaded. Follow a seemingly normal girl as she attempts to adjust to her new life with the Wayne family, as she tries to ignore their differences Life isn't so black and white though, and neither is she. They keep secrets and so does she. Taboo content/ multiple relationships and sexualities.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own batman, the batman series, or anything from dc at all. All I own is my OC

There is some Oocness in this story.

Story will contain explicit language, suggestive content (the rating may change later) and very grim themes.

I have a very good plot in my opinion laid out for the duration of this story, so give it a chance.

Another note, I've previously uploaded this story but took it down because I changed my mind with what I wanted to be Labyrinth's distinct difference. To anyone who has previously read this and liked it the way it was, I hope you like it this way too. The first chapter doesn't have many changes made to it though.

Thank you specifically to Steampunk Splatter21 for staying with me even though I'm often very very late on updating. Almost out of highschool, so hopefully I'll be quicker after that.

* * *

_ A voice said, Look me in the stars_ _And tell me truly, men of earth,_ _If all the soul-and-body scars_ _Were not too much to pay for birth. _

_Robert Frost_

**The Differences**

The difference between me and them was many things really. Of course, we had a lot in common as well, but I didn't see these things. And for what? Because _he didn't see them. None of them saw them. _So, neither would I. I could live in a world of make believe if I so wished to, and it was no different from what they did. They put on the masks, the capes, ran off into the middle of the night, and came back at lights wake. He was the caped crusader, and they were his fledglings. He was to be my new father, and they, my brothers. One might expect to live a nice happy life when coming to live in such riches, when coming to live with a family who, yes, had their problems, but loved each other none the less. But that wasn't the case for me. I might have let myself ponder the reason as to why when I first moved to the Wayne manor, but the answer was so blatant, that I need only to ponder it but a nanosecond before I shut it out, or at least, I told myself I shut it out. They were the differences after all.

* * *

The story doesn't start with my coming to the Wayne manor though, or maybe it does, but in any case, there has to have been a way, a reason to as why I came to the Wayne manor at all, doesn't there. The story isn't a very happy one, but life isn't a very happy thing now is it, or fair. No, it's not fair at all. It's the same as when you have your first fight with your mother, or maybe, your 200th or maybe your 2,00,000th. It gets to that climatic moment where you eventually shout "I hate you!," and she retaliates with "I gave birth to you, you ungrateful little b*tch!" In truth though, is it so righteous to take pride in bringing an innocent soul into such a miserable world? Is it so good to expect something to love you unconditionally for you doing nothing but having brought it _here? _And then, there's the fact that one often doesn't take into regard, that now they have another soul to take into consideration when talking, when partaking in any sort of action, when making decisions that effect not only oneself anymore. But that's off topic. This merely being an example of what is fair and what isn't. In the case of the first fight with your mother, it isn't fair to have the fact that one person is the reason for your being thrown into your face. In my case, it wasn't fair that my whole family died at a family gathering. That's to put it bluntly, but I would rather not really get into too much detail about it, not just yet anyways. I'm too far enjoying my detached state at the moment thank you.

I'll give the few basic details to which you need though, to which I myself am fortunate enough of possessing, to further this story. And yes, the story will be told in a very cliché manner.

I was born. I grew up. My family life wasn't good at all, yet I held some sort of affection for each individual of my family. I showed it not often, for none of us did, and there were more acts of physical hatred to one another than those of love. And yet, for us, it was normal, it was our love, and no one doubted that yes, indeed, there was love. There was only one person I showed affection towards and genuine love to, and that was Nadaly. But no, I'll stop there. That's another story for another day. She deserves her own story to be told. Anyways, I had a lot of family problems, to which, like most family problems, my parents were the source of. My father being a drug addict with mental disorders, and my mother being a clingy psychopath, the money situation in our family wasn't stable at all, nor were the living arrangements, and we often were out in the cold. There was no signs of love or affection, only hatred, and yet, there was a subtle under layer that hinted at such. Maybe it showed in the way that there was always anger when one of us was missing, this anger, was merely a sign of worry really, and to worry you had to love right? But that was life growing up, and it was always up and down. Finally, when I was a teenager, my parents started getting their act together. My dad quit drugs, got a steady off and on job (construction work) and my mother getting a job as a receptionist for a dental office. Of course, things were still crazy at home, and I mean the type of crazy that people went to jail for, but like I said, I held some sort of affection for that type of life, it was the only life I ever knew.

But it was my father's drug addiction, or rather, source of drugs that would be our undoing. Even after he quit, it was known that the source of his income of drugs came from my uncle, and discreet as they were, I can remember as a child going to my uncle's house, watching them exchange something I wasn't sure what, and then my father snorting something. I never learned what it was, even to this day I don't know, but I know now that it was indeed a drug, and is what caused his erratic behavior, his mental instability. Well, we were to go to a family reunion.

Before I go any further, let me share a secret with you. Sometimes, I see things. Scary things really. Things that I can neither say are real nor fantasy. But they feel and look and sound very real, at least, to me they do. And they're always causing trouble. For example, once when my parents were fighting, Nadaly and I were huddled up in our room waiting for them to stop. I remember, she was scared, and I was angry, so so angry. But in a way, she was angry in her own way too. Anyway, while we were huddled together, our bedroom door started creaking ever so slightly. At least, I heard it before I saw it. I looked up to see the door swaying back and forth, back and forth, never quite hitting the wall, but always coming close to it. And the speed at with which it was swaying, it couldn't be passed off as the wind. Hell, it wasn't even windy that night.

And that's when we saw it. I say we, because I know that Nadaly saw it before I even did. She told me so later. But there it was. A disfigured looking man, smile wide and malicious as he looked back down at us from the other side of the doorway. His eyes were big and topaz colored, skin blacker than ink, and his limbs, well, they just weren't even there. I can remember these details about him, but anything else, is simply gone. Nadaly remembered though. She started shaking and crying, and this only delighted the thing. I was shocked, but I held her, forced her head to turn away from the thing, and this seemed to anger it. The door stopped swaying, then silence. Our heavy breathing. The fighting stopped. Then silence. Seconds seemed to feel like hours, and then, _crash! ktch! ktch! _The sounds of glass breaking everywhere. And would you believe, not only did our parents not believe us about the thing, but we were also responsible for the breaking glass. Nadaly told me it wasn't the first time she saw something like that. Honestly, she had a harder time with them than I did. I think though, it's because Nadaly wasn't strong really in her mind. You have to be strong in yourself to not let them get to you.

I noticed something else too. I'd get these images, these dreams in my head. Always horrendous dreams, no nightmares. People I didn't know dying, dead people talking to me, more atrocious looking things trying to hurt me. But I never thought anything of it. They were just dreams after all right? Dreams can't hurt you, even if they can scar you. Mine weren't as bad as Nadaly's. And as crazy as it sounds, I could never remember them after they passed. Nadaly wrote them down, drew them out, and that's how she got good at controlling them. Mine didn't work quite the same way though. If I didn't write about it after they happened, then they were gone forever. They didn't always happen at night though, and that's what made me scared. Scared of being clinically crazy at least.

Anyways, the day of the reunion, I had a dream, a daydream? Yes, a daydream. Bodies going up in the air with faces that were blurred out, children crying, fire everywhere. Some type of repeated sound and a weird emblem I couldn't quite make out. I didn't make anything of it at the time. Just one more dream to disappear. Nadaly insisted I write it down though, so I did. I had to do it discreetly though as to not upset our parents. I pulled out my notebook and scrawled down details, no sentences. Details were enough.

Back to my uncle. See, he was a pretty big drug distributor. And of course, he had made enemies, and of course, said enemies were watching him. During the day of the family reunion, one rival drug lord had his men follow the families as they made their way to the reunion. I know this because it was in the police report read to me later on after the explosion. Yes, the explosion. For whatever reason, the fact that my uncle was going to be the one responsible for so many deaths, and we were a lot, must have put joy into their hearts. And I mean aunts, uncles, grandma's, grandpa's, babies for crying out loud. See, I was mad at my mom for something that she said, so I walked around the park, we were having the reunion at the park, and as I was coming back, I felt a wave of debris and air hit me, along with some sort of heat. But, there was a ringing in my head, a kind of alarm, that told me things would not be okay. Because there was so much noise, so many shouts, so many people crying. And gun shots, lots and lots of gun shots. People screaming, sirens in the distance, and for whatever reason, I was alive, yet dead at the same time. I was dead, yet alive. Only one name raced through my mind. _Nadaly. _I wasn't thinking anymore then. Slowly, I lost the battle with the slumber that was my salvation from time, time that it would take to realize what happened, time that would make me lose myself.

* * *

"She's waking up" a deep voice noted. A relieved sigh escaped from a pair of lips, the opposite apparently.

"Labyrinth?" the same deep voice asked. A bright light blinded me as I opened my eyes. Everything was white, then fuzzy images surfaced, and finally, clarity. A man with red hair and nice brown eyes framed by a thick pair of glasses stared at me. A long brown trench coat adorned his build body, his faced aged gracefully with a wrinkle here and there. Underneath the brown eyes though, was a hollowness, a look that came from seeing too much failure, and there was also something dejected about them. But one could tell he was a strong man. Pain sky rocketed through me as I tried to utter some words, but my mouth was dry, and no words came out. So I merely blinked my dark eyelashes at the man, hoping he'd understand it as that I was attentive. He did.

"My name is commissioner Gordon. I head the Gotham Police Department" I had heard of Gotham before, somewhere in the east coast wasn't it? Or maybe the north? Either way, it was far from sunny California, my home to which I loved dearly, even if I couldn't stand the heat most of the time. Which brought me to the question, what the hell was I doing in Gotham?

"I know you've gone through a lot Ms. Deleon, but I just want you to know that you're okay now, and I know it's going to be tough, but you'll get through this" his voice was apologetic somehow, and even with the gentle edge to his voice, there was a toughness to it. This man was the commissioner, and if was understandable that he probably was always on edge, but even more so, that he had lost some type of ability to truly empathize with victims. Of course, he was addressing me as my name now, but when I left the room, I'd turn into 'the victim' or 'the girl who survived' or something along those lines. And I wasn't damn stupid either. I knew, from the moment that dark shadow showed signs of agitation, that there was also signs of triumph. He won over me somehow.

"You were the only survivor" he breathed out. It didn't startle me. It should have, I should have been balling my eyes out, because it wasn't as if I didn't love them, it wasn't as if I wasn't secretly praying to a god I didn't believe in that somehow Nadaly was okay and alive. But I didn't react other than letting my eyes drop some. I then looked back up to meet his gaze. He held my stare, as an adult, but I knew he still didn't see me as such. He was merely treating me as such because he was afraid I'd be upset otherwise. I knew, the way he looked at me, that he pitied me, and while it wasn't rude nor a crime to pity someone, I saw it, and I didn't care for it. I was suddenly aware that I couldn't move, not my head, not my body. I had never been so curious before in my life. What did I look like at the moment? Surely I was a wreck. How badly had I been hurt? What was going to happen to me now? I was only sixteen, maybe they'd put me in an orphanage? It wasn't like I had any family left now, nowhere to go. And how was I going to arrange the funerals. My head began to swim, and for once, I felt overwhelmed. More than anything, I was angry. How dare I be left alone to fend for myself, without so much as a sorry from the supposed supreme being for making my life miserable. It was amusing, thinking such ludicrous thoughts. They saved me, such maddening thoughts, from my own true madness. My mind was another entity away from my own, with whom I could talk to, and would talk back to me.

The door opened then. Another man walked in. He had jet black hair, and icy blue eyes, cold eyes they were, but there was a light of understanding in them, and again, for once in my life, I wanted his eyes to hold me. I wanted so many things in that moment, when I felt his understanding, and I knew somehow, I wanted things that I would never have. The man was of a thickish lean physique, his face handsomely aged, not like the ginger police officer in the room, but he appeared to be in his early thirties maybe? Who knew, maybe he was older. He walked over to the bed, looked kindly down at me, sorrow and there, that understanding in his eyes.

"Mr. Bruce Wayne was a friend of your uncle's" the commissioner simply explained. The man, Mr. Wayne, nodded his head at the man briefly before turning to me.

"I was on my way to the reunion. Your uncle invited me, but my plane had been delayed earlier, so I was running late. The sight when I got there...I'm so sorry" Mr. Wayne said, sincerity showing in his ice blue eyes. I was becoming wary of him subconsciously then, I'm still not sure why. Maybe it was because I'm a paranoid person by nature, or because the saying goes, don't trust people with cold eyes, or maybe, it was because I was scared. I never opened myself to even my family, and I never cared to. But right now, I could see the dangers. "For the time being, I'll take care of you're living arrangements, if you don't mind. It's the least I could do. If only, if only I had been there" he seemed to apologize. And there it was. My fear in the living flesh. What if, I grew attached to this man, and the life he gave me? A couple of things could happen. I could be given back, which wouldn't be so bad honestly. But what if I wasn't given back, what if I got attached, what if it was one sided? I hated being weak, had never shown such weakness, yet I felt my weakness growing with the second. And yet, I let myself be engulfed by my curiosity, and once again, I merely blinked my eyelashes in response. The corners of his lips moved upwards ever so slightly.

"I'll make the arrangements then" and with those few blunt words, so devoid of emotion or spark that he had shown earlier, that gruff of tone, that I knew he wasn't who he said he was, or who he appeared to be, and he walked out with the commissioner quick behind him. Yes, he was Bruce Wayne, but not really. I was oddly okay with it though, it fed my curiosity like a burning flame, and I was enthralled. I think now, it was my way of coping, of forgetting what happened. It doesn't matter, because nothing could have prepared me for what happened. Or rather, what didn't happen.

* * *

Outside of the victims hospital room, the two men talked in hushed whispers. One was going over the details of the legal arrangements that had to be made, the other was going over his report of what had happened.

"It doesn't make any sense. I arrive on scene, and not only are the victims lying dead, but the mobsters are too. There wasn't any evidence of their being a third party involved at the scene" the commissioner shared with the man. "Good thing Batman arrived when he did, or the girl might have not of made it either."

The dark knight, now in disguise as Bruce Wayne nodded his head sympathetically."It's a shame. So many children are suffering losses like these nowadays. I've never heard of a case where the whole family...well, you know Jim" he said, his voice somber. In his mind, he was analyzing the situation and what needed to be done. It was true, he knew her uncle, but not really. He knew he was a drug dealer, and was exporting his goods across the nation, and to various parts of Latin America too. A case had led him from his home in Gotham to the sunny south of California, a very drastic change of scenery. He had been planning on stopping an exchange that was suppose to take place, a tip he had received from an insider. He planned to expose the drug dealer, yet, even he couldn't for see the events that took place that day. In the end, he couldn't save the hundreds of people that died, there was no drug exchange, and he couldn't give, he knew, truly give this ordinary girl what she would need.

The commissioner walked back into the girl's room now, checking up on her if he heard correctly. He himself made his way to the top of the hospital building, where, he dialed the boy wonder's number. "It's me. How do you feel about having a sister Tim?"

-END, for now.

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**Review and Rate for a new chapter. Let me know what you thought**

**For clarification purposes Labyrinth is 16, Tim is 17, Jason is 19, Richard is 21. Bruce is 33.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own batman, the batman series, or anything from dc at all. All I own is my OC. I previously uploaded this, and am taking long to edit the chapters, so there might still be some mistakes that don't make sense. Thank you to SteamPunk Splatter21 and Leopard Queen for reviewing.

_I have been one acquainted with the night._  
_I have walked out in rain - and back in rain._  
_I have out-walked the furthest city light._

_I have looked down the saddest city lane._  
_I have passed by the watchman on his beat_  
_And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain._

_I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet_  
_When far away an interrupted cry_  
_Came over houses from another street,_

_But not to call me back or say good-bye;_  
_And further still at an unearthly height,_  
_A luminary clock against the sky_

_Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right._  
_I have been one acquainted with the night. _

_Robert Frost_

* * *

It was released in the newspaper relatively quickly. A massacre of family in southern California, a sole survivor being taken in by a friend of the family. What was especially of interest to most people, was that this friend of the family was Bruce Wayne, notorious playboy billionaire from Gotham city. With his help, the case that would have been left to local authorities was allowed to be collaborated on between the L.A police department and the Gotham police department. This was due to the fact that apparently, the rival drug lord resided in Gotham, and when the victims uncle started exporting his goods into Gotham, the drug lord evidently felt threatened. The story and the details of the story were really quite interesting.

Almost everything was interesting, except for the survivor. The girl had come from a Mexican family, her parents were immigrants, her mother illegal, her father having gained his citizenship at the age of twenty two. She was a Hispanic girl, but she was pale, so she passed the American beauty standards, and so, people empathized that, indeed, she was a poor little thing. Their sympathy only went that far though. Nobody cared for the little nobody, the little nobody that came from Mexican immigrants, who wasn't part of a sports team, wasn't part of any club, had average grades, who had no friends, and thus, nobody cared.

But somebody did care. _He _cared. Well, he said he did, and in those icy blue eyes, there was truth. Yes, he did care, because he himself had lost everything. He himself died with along with his parents all those years ago. In this, they were the same. And yet they were different, but maybe just maybe, he needed this difference, this change as much as she did. Or it'd be their undoing. Most likely the latter. All she knew was that she needed the difference, the change that he offered.

* * *

I woke up again. This time it wasn't as painful as the rest of the times. On the contrary, I felt better than I had in weeks. From the explosion that took place on that day, I had a concussion that was already gone now, a few broken ribs that with the treatment issued healed, and not to mention the surgery it took to get a piece of metal that was lodged in my stomach out. Yeah, good times. Mr. Wayne visited me several times. The first time he came, it was with the commissioner. I don't think the guy felt quite comfortable yet being alone with me. The commissioner came once too by himself. I asked about Mr. Wayne, and the commissioner just told me that the man was known to adopt orphaned young boys. Young boys. No wonder the poor man was having such a hard time getting over here by himself. Having all boys is easier than making conversation with a teenage girl, that's for sure. I asked the commissioner a lot of questions, to both mine and his surprise. I think now, it was a distraction. I felt a void in myself, a hole left from the people that were suppose to be with me, leaving me all alone.

The second time Mr. Wayne came, he came by himself. I woke up to him stroking my ebony locks, and when he noticed that I had indeed woken up, he offered me a small smile of embarrassment that came from having been caught by me. I couldn't help but smile back. He asked me how I was, and I told him I was fine, alive. He said he could relate. We sat for a while in silence, and it was a nice type of silence. I was too shy then to ask him anything about himself. I knew he had other sons, two which were alive. The one I was interested was the one that had passed away though. It's one thing to loose your parents, but another to lose your child. But then it was too cruel on part to ask such a thing of him, simply to please my own curiosity.

Around the fifth or sixth time he came to see me, he seemed to be in the swing of things. He'd come in with a gift or two, they usually came in the form of sweets or something I could eat, and then we'd make talk. He'd ask me how I was, then ask about what my family was like. It was pretty awkward when he asked those questions, because here was one difference. I loved my family, I knew they had loved me, and yet, we were so far beyond dysfunctional. He had come from a loving family, a truly normal loving family. He couldn't possibly comprehend all my struggles, all I had to endure. He didn't know what it was like to see your father beat your mother, or what it was like to have your mother wrap her hands around your neck in an attempt to choke you. He didn't know what it was like to be called a little b*tch, or what it was like to be left starving for days on end. He didn't know what it was like to have to try and find some way to feed your little brothers and sisters, or what it was like to give up on a god you wished to exist. He simply didn't know. But he tried to understand, to empathize, he really did. I knew he felt my sorrow when I dug into my tales of grief, and even if they weren't similar to his own, tales of grief always dig up other tales of grief. I could see him remembering, every little thing that had ever caused him pain, and he hurt, as I was hurting now. He'd share with me a story or two about a time when he hurt. The first one was when his son left to college. He said he knew it was for his own good, but he hated to see his son go, like any other parent would. I felt it was something deeper then. The pain I saw in his eyes when he spoke about his son Richard leaving, there was more to it than what he was letting on.

He asked about school a lot too, to my embarrassment. I was a nobody for sure in school, and from what I've heard from commissioner Gordon, the nurses that took care of me, or even from what I read on the internet (Mr. Wayne bought me a laptop so I'd have something to do in bed, neat huh?) Mr. Wayne was definitely always somebody, and was even so during his high school years. What added to my embarrassment was the fact that his sons lived up to his legacy, Richard having moved to Bloodhaven and becoming a cop (after receiving many credentials at Gotham University mind you), and Tim being regarded as a child genius (apparently he had a big noggin or something). I told him straight out that I was your average student. I got A's in most every subject, but that was all hard work, not genius, not to mention my test grades were C's and B's. I was especially horrible in math and science, I was alright in English and history, but I didn't care for those subjects. The only subject I ever really liked was French, and that was because it was the only time I got to learn about somewhere where I wasn't. Most kids were from Latin blood also (hello people, it's California) and were damn proud of it. I on the other hand, wanted something beyond what my heritage gave me, and it wasn't as if I was ashamed of it either, because as soon as I'm referred to as that 'white girl' my head whips around with an 'excuse me, I'm Hispanic.' I simply didn't want to be like all the ignorant kids who didn't care to know anything other than what they grew up with. Because I did not want to have nothing all my life. I was from nothing, and if I was to be proud of nothing and stick with nothing my whole life, well now, you get the point.

I remember best the conversation we had the last time he came to see me. He came in as usual, this time he had some type of cell phone to give me. I liked it when he brought me gifts, I really did, but my upbringing and pride also made me hate it. I knew I came from nothing, but whenever he brought me things I was reminded of it, and I hated to think that he saw me as a charity case.

"I can't accept this" I told him adamantly, the way I always did.

"I'd like you to be able to get a hold of me. If something happens where you don't feel comfortable here, or if you just need someone to talk to, I'd like you to be able to reach me" he stated smoothly. He probably went over this scenario in his head already, because it was nothing new now really. It was routing whenever he came.

"Mr. Wayne, I can't. It wouldn't be right. I don't like to be simply given things. At least let me earn it once I'm out of here. Speaking of which, you wouldn't happen to know when that is would you?" The corners of his lips tugged upwards again, and there was that glint in his icy eyes again. They reminded me of crystals, or rather, water drops when they catch the light. My heart ached whenever I thought of his eyes, because no matter how much he looked at me, no matter how kind he was towards me, I always felt like he was looking through me, or he wasn't focused on me, and that thought itself made me hate myself. I hated how weak I had become. I hated how much I felt that I needed this man's attention. Surely I had never felt this way before, and it was preposterous to me that I would do so now.

"It is perfectly alright. The fact that you have such high morals and expectations of yourself is reason enough for me to give it to you. And it still stands, I'd like you to have it for emergency reasons, which is perfectly understandable. And you'll be released in two days time" he finished.

"So I'll be a hospital graduate then I suppose."

An amused smile crossed his face."Let's be thankful that you're going to be one."

"Are you saying you don't think I could have graduated? Thanks. Really, I appreciate your believing in me. Should I mention you in my speech?"

"Since when did you get so cheeky? And I'm sure to give a graduation speech, you'd have to be selected to do so."

"Oh, so now you're saying you don't think I'd be chosen to give the speech. Well, I suppose I don't meet the criteria for such. And I don't know really. I suppose I'm getting comfortable enough to mouth off to you Mr. Wayne. It's not too late now you know. You can still runaway" I said. It was half jokingly, but some of me meant it really. I was a pain in my parent's asses, I'm sure I'd be a pain in his ass too. It was better that I let him know sooner than later what he was taking in, because I really didn't want to be given back later. And it was true, _I really was getting comfortable._

His smile was wary now, but he still held that look of amusement in his eyes. "Labyrinth, I'm don't think I could turn back now if I tried" it came out as a whisper, but there was so much sincerity in his voice, like there always was, and for a moment, I didn't know if I'd be able to handle such truth all the time."I want you, if you'll have me that is. And that brings me to a question I've been meaning to ask you. See, I told you I'd let you stay with me, but that was a partial lie" I felt my eyes widen. I didn't actually expect him to give me back, not really. I wanted something good in my life, and I wanted him. I sucked in a breath and bit my lips. Well, what could I expect really. I wouldn't want me, and it wasn't his responsibility to take care of me. He seemed to read my thoughts, and next thing I knew, he was next to me, taking my hands in his. "How would you like to become my daughter?" he asked.

It hit me hard. I could only stare at the man in front of me as a million thoughts entered my mind. I wanted his attention, I would be fine with anybody's attention at the moment, but it was him that offered it to me first, it was him that I expected it from now as horrible as it was, as needy as it was, as weak and unlike myself as it all was. But was I ready for a new family? I couldn't even think of life without my own dysfunctional family, thus I never let myself get around to truly thinking about them yet, I couldn't think that when I left this room, Nadaly wouldn't be waiting for me. My hands gripped the cover that was around myself, and I had unconsciously taken to staring down at the covers as I felt my eyes start to tighten with moisture. My body was heaving as I wouldn't let myself cry in front of this man. I wanted to be a part of his family, I wouldn't deny that realization, yet, I hated myself for wanting that comfort. I wanted to let myself sink to the pits of hell and wallow in my pain and anger, so that I'd never forget them. It wasn't fair for me to have a happy life after they were gone.

And what about his safety? I wasn't safe. I wasn't _normal._ A freak really. Surely those _things _weren't just going to let me be. Suddenly I felt a soft warmness on my shoulders, and there he was, Bruce Wayne, playboy billionaire in all his glory, giving me some comfort? I could only look up to meet his confused gaze, and surely, he didn't know if he was doing whatever he was attempting to do right."Hey, you don't have to decide now. Of course, I want you to really think about it. I know what it's like you know. To loose your family. So, one step at a time right" his words were reassuring, yet they held an awkwardness to them. I saw that awkwardness sometimes when I was alone with a boy teacher, or if I had to meet a friend's/classmates father. Men that didn't have daughters of their own had no clue.

"Ahahahahaha" I couldn't stop myself from bursting out into a little fit of giggles and laughter, something I hadn't done in a really long time. I wasn't completely better yet, but I was starting to feel like myself again. Of course, myself was usually cynical, depressive, sarcastic, somber, moody etc. etc. But I liked to laugh, really I did. Usually it was deranged unless I was with Nadaly, but I loved it none the less. I didn't care what the joke was, whom the joke was directed at, what it's content was, I mostly found anything funny really. Sometimes in class, I'd think about something that had particularly made me ting in the pits of my stomach, and it was so hard to keep in the cackles that built up in my throat. Surely enough, within minutes, they were out and about, earning glares from my teachers, and making my classmates wonder just what in the hell was wrong with me. Likewise, Mr. Wayne looked astonished really. Slowly though, he let himself loosen his reigns, once he saw I was alright that is, and then he was letting out a chuckle here and then himself.

"Mr. Wayne, I can't wait to go home" I said, mustering up a smile, and it wasn't completely fake really. Part of me, the part that wasn't flaring alarms of danger wanted this new adventure.

"Please Labyrinth. Call me Bruce" he said, reaching out his hand as if it was the first time we had met.

"Alright then, Bruce."

* * *

So, here I was, waiting on the hospital bed for Mr. Wayne to come pick me up to be taken to my new home. I was bored out of my mind, and had a bit of time to kill, so I hit the internet. Of course, my new found interest was also the source of my anxiety:my new family. I spent hours a day looking up things about my new family, hoping to have any question I might have answered before I got there. I didn't want to be a needy girl, the girl I was feeling more and more like everyday now. I felt so selfish, so self-centered that I was sick. I kept this hidden, but it was hard. It wasn't terrible really, but when I started thinking about how horrible I was for the way I felt, not to mention what I was keeping from Mr. Wayne, I couldn't help but hate myself. So, naturally, being the teenage girl that I was, my self inflicted sickness came in the form of an eating disorder. I couldn't eat much, and when I managed to keep some food down my stomach, it usually wasn't much. The nurse that frequented my room, a pretty little brunette in her mid twenties I'm sure, took notice, but I persuaded her that it was just warning signs that I was going to get my period soon. I'm not even sure that is even a legitimate thing, but luckily, she didn't seem to know either.

Mr. Wayne came at about four in the evening. I heard the small sound of his footsteps, which I had to strain to listen for, because for a big man, he was incredibly light on his feet. The familiarity of the squeak of the door knob send a new sensation of anticipation through me. Each second that it took for the door to open I could feel a new bead of sweat forming on my forehead.

"Labyrinth, I trust you're ready to go?" came the deep voice of Mr. Wayne.

"Course I am Mr. Wayne" I replied nonchalantly. Little did he know that the night before, I spent endless amounts of time making sure that I had what little things I did possess, reminding myself of proper etiquette, of things I shouldn't do or say, things I needed to let him be aware of. Things like that.

"Please Labyrinth, I thought we went over this? Call me Bruce" he said, a slight scolding edge to his voice, but the twinkle in his eyes let me know that he wasn't angry. I'm sure I'd know when he was really angry, if he ever did get angry at me.

"Right, sorry Mr- sorry Bruce" I managed. He sent a scolding look in my direction, but he merely picked up the small suitcase I had (the things I had with me on the day of the explosion) and opened the door once again.

"Come on, we should get going now. Unless that is, you want to say your goodbyes to this place" he said, knowing I would jump out the window to be free of the hospital. I would too.

So I just nodded my head as I let myself be lead out of the hospital room, careful to keep a good pace behind the billionaire. As soon as we exited the building however, a million flashes of light blinded me momentarily and I lost my footing. Sounds became incoherent noises and there were white spots in my vision. It was all frantic really. And then I was clawed at by people I assumed, all wanting something I didn't know what from me. I looked around frantically looking for Mr. Wayne, but luckily I didn't need to look for him, because he found me. He had this steely look in his eyes and his jaw was clenched so tightly I was wondering how it didn't break off. Once again, I had a feeling that this wasn't the man who was with me just moments ago in that hospital room, but someone else posing as him."Let's get you to the car" his voice came out in a gruff, more like a growl really, and I was being shoved into a vintage limo, Mr. Wayne smiling ever so charmingly at all the cameras flashing at us. There was movement beneath me, and soon the flashes of the cameras faded, as well as the vulturous people.

"You alright?" he asked casually, not quite back in character yet.

"I'm fine" my voice came out icier than I meant for it too, but I too felt myself dissolving back into my old somber self.

He took it though, obviously not wanting to engage in a conversation at the moment, and I was fine with that. I felt myself growing angry for some reason. I felt fooled, like a giant idiot really. But now wasn't the time for such anger, because really, the man had done nothing wrong. Just me being my typical crazy self again.

After about an hour, the limo turned up a road that strayed from the main one up a lonesome hill that I knew overlooked Gotham City. From all my extensive reading you can bet. It wasn't long before we came to two giant Gothic looking gates, and inside resided a colossal mansion, also of the Gothic fashion. Everything about the mansion was gloriously intricate, and I felt, that maybe such a house, one that I'd dreamed about many a time before, would be too big for a girl like me, use to living with seven other people in a little two bedroom apartment. A pang went through my chest as I recalled waking up every morning to Nadaly, covering her up and waking her if I felt she was having a nightmare, or snuggling up next to her when I myself had one and was too prideful to admit it. I couldn't help my eyeballs from popping out of my head still though at its enormity.

"Welcome home Labyrinth" Mr. Wayne breathed out as he made his way out of the limo to fetch my bags, along with the help of the older limo driver whom I recognized as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's legal guardian after his parent's death (of course from the internet), of whom I was surely going to be acquainted with later no?

"Yeah, home" I mumbled to myself, not really sure at all, if I could ever really call this place home.

-End, For now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own batman, the batman series, or anything from dc at all. All I own is my OC

Floor plan of the mansion is up on my profile for reference.

_I didn't make you know how glad I was  
To have you come and camp here on our land.  
I promised myself to get down some day  
And see the way you lived, but I don't know!  
With a houseful of hungry men to feed  
I guess you'd find... It seems to me  
I can't express my feelings any more  
Than I can raise my voice or want to lift..._

_-Robert Frost_

* * *

You ever feel like something's too good to be true? Like one day you'll wake up, and that good thing you have in your grasp, will disappear, and you'll realize, it was just a good dream all along? Or how about waking up from a nightmare, only to realize it wasn't a dream, and you're living your nightmare? Can you tell the difference between fantasy and reality? Because it's getting harder and harder for me to decipher the two of them apart. And then there's always that horrible horrible thought, the one that takes you to the brink of insanity, that threatens to throw you off that cliff and drown you in the stormy waves at the bottom. Is this your dream, your nightmare, or is it someone else's?

* * *

"This is the first floor to the mansion" Alfred, the butler, whom I hadn't been formally introduced to yet, was explaining layout of the manor. I made a note to myself to pay close attention to his words, because knowing myself, I didn't have the best sense of direction, and would probably loose myself trying to find the kitchen or something like that. He pointed out various room such as the East Rotunda, and the West Rotunda, the billiard room, the arcade loggia, the breakfast room, the dining room, the small library, and various other rooms I couldn't remember.

"So, do you feel that you're well acquainted with the first floor?" Alfred asked me. Honestly, the man made feel out of place more than I knew I was. He was so proper in his etiquette and manner, much like Mr. Wayne was, but he was like a professional on a larger scale. I felt like if I did something wrong, it'd be a bother on him more than anyone else, though I knew that it was just all in my head. What was more, was, he was the person that catered to the inhabitants of the mansion's needs. Well, I wasn't used to being catered to, or not doing things by myself, and having another person do them for me, it was just unheard of in my book. I had the uncanny feeling though, that I had better start getting used to it.

"I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually" I replied to him, which earned me a sympathetic look from the butler. Okay, so maybe I was just over reacting on the him making me feel out of place thing.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, we ended up losing Master Richard several times when he tried to find his way back up to his room from dinner" he leaned into my ear, whispering as if it was a secret.

"Didn't know you were one for loose lips Al!" A low rumbling laugh followed this statement, causing the butler to paint a smile on his own face. I could only assume that Richard was the source of the voice that was just emitted. My nerves started bundling up in my stomach. Pride kept me from acting on them though, and I remained aloof as a hand gently gripped my left shoulder. I turned around to meet a pair of blue eyes, much like Mr. Wayne's, except these blue eyes weren't as harsh, similarly though, they held that bright twinkle in them, though I could place what the twinkle was at the moment in his eyes. It was curiosity, and maybe even excitement?

"So, you're my new little sister huh?" his voice was gentler now, much less voluminous from the loud eruption it was only moments ago. Then he took me in, scanned me all over as if he was looking for something, and finally, his eyes found there way to mine, and he held me there for what seemed like forever. His ice blue piercing eyes. My deep brown ones. I can remember now, I was holding my breath for those moments, my heart for some reason was doing somersaults over and over again with anxiety. I can remember denying myself the thoughts _please, let him like me. Please, please, please..._

His gaze was serious and whatever he was looking for, well, I'm not sure if he found it or not, but he relaxed, let out a sigh, and then that big smile was back on his face. "Well, it sure stinks that I got such a pretty new sister. I would have waited a year or two for you" he winked at me, and I could feel my face heating up. I hated it, because I knew my face would give me away as crimson hues took hold over it, voiding my cool demeanor.

"I assure you, he isn't always such a doofus" yet another new voice entered my ears, and I felt a slight agitation that people were coming to get a good look at the new member of the family. "Just most of the time."

"I'm wounded, I was just trying to make our little sister feel at ease" Richard feigned his hurt, putting his arm over his eyes, then he let out another short laugh and went to mess up Tim's hair. Tim in return, let out a tch! sound and punched Richard in the arm, though not with the intention to hurt him I'm sure, but still, hard enough to make it hurt a bit. Richard frowned before tackling the Tim to the ground. The two of them fell to the floor, and Tim struggled underneath Richards superior weight. "Not so tough now are you" he gloated down at his little brother, a haughty grin plastered on his face.

"I could take you any time, any day of the week, you neanderthal" Tim grunted out. His legs wrapped themselves around the lower half of Richards' body. Richards' eyes widened as he realized what Tim was going to do, and before he could get up, Tim used the strength in his legs to throw Richard of of himself. Richard toppled to the ground, a smile still on his face, but it was evident in his eyes that he wanted to get even.

"Why you little-" he was cut off though.

"I see the two of you have introduced yourselves to your new little sister" Mr. Wayne came down from the large stair case to the left of us. His smile I knew, was directed to me, his scolding tone, directed to my new siblings. My heart ached at the realization. I had new siblings. Well, not yet of course, but they acted as if I was already a member of the family, it was comforting and horrendous all at the same time. _I don't want this! _A defiant voice in the back of my head screamed at me, but there was another voice fighting it, yelling back _Yes, we do! We deserve this! _As Mr. Wayne approached, he seemed to sense my distress.

"Why don't you give Labyrinth a break, it's only the first night and you two can't behave yourselves" he again scolded the two boys.

"Aw Bruce, we were just having some fun" came Richards lighthearted voice.

"Tch! Speak for yourself" Tim added with a voice full of irritation.

"Well it doesn't matter. Tonight's about Labyrinth, not you two" his voice was flat as he said this, obviously his dead serious tone or something like that, because both of them stood up and had a particular reaction to this tone of voice. Richard rolled his eyes, like he had heard it too many times to care anymore. Tim on the other hand, stood upright and nodded his head ever so slightly, but there was the slightest detection of sarcasm in this motion, like he just wanted to change topics now.

"Sorry" both mumbled out in unison.

Mr. Wayne nodded his head once before turning to Alfred."I already put Labyrinth's things in her room. It's the guest room across from stair case" he instructed the aged butler.

"Wish I could have gotten that room. Being next to the stair case would have been convenient. Maybe then I wouldn't have gotten loss looking for my room so often. I don't know, what do you think?" Richard was starting again. It seemed he had a knack for this type of thing, because Mr. Wayne threw him a look that was met with more laughter.

"Indeed" Alfred agreed, also smiling. "Now then, Miss Labyrinth, if you will. This way please" as he started escorting me up the staircase, welcoming words followed me up.

"See you at dinner sis!" Richard.

"Maybe now I'll have a normal sibling" Tim.

There was silence, then muttered words which I vaguely caught as "We have work to do."

* * *

"I'll trust that all your things have made their way appropriately, though I would double check of course just in case. Well then Madam, until dinner. And I'll come to get you of course as to not creating another incident similar to that of Master Richard's" there was an amusement in his voice as he recalled the memory to himself. I smiled at him awkwardly, appreciating his help. I was thankful though, when he left, leaving me time to take everything in. I walked about what would be my new room. It was plain in the utmost use of the word, yet to me, it was still one of the most beautiful rooms I had ever seen. The walls were painted gray, and were devoid of any sort of decoration. The vanity which was placed to the left wall was of white coloring, that matched the white king sized bed that was placed in the center of the middle wall of the room. There was a book case, also white, placed right to the bed. And of course, the standard closet was there as well.

I was grateful for the beautiful room, yet the lack of personality made it feel as it was, a guest bedroom. I was a guest. My mood switched so suddenly then. I wasn't appreciative of my solitude any longer, and found myself craving the presence of another person so badly I could have killed for it. Being left alone with my thoughts wasn't the best thing in the world for me, I learned that long ago.

But I was never really alone. And that was the scary thing. Paranoia took over me. My eyes flicked across the room, wary of the shadows that the little furniture in the room created. Nothing was here though, at least not yet, or most likely, they didn't want to make themselves known to me yet. That did nothing for me though, because if nothing was detectable, then I would have to be on my guard. I curled myself up into my knees, hiding myself. I was scared. I was so scared. Scared of the things that made themselves known to me, scared of my new home, scared of my new feelings, scared of forgetting, and scared of myself.

I stayed like that, left alone with my own deranged thoughts for what seemed like hours. It probably was so too. Cynical tormenting thoughts plagued my mind. That voice was there again, along with many new patronizing ones now. _You don't deserve this! It'll be your fault if they die! They're going to die because of your selfishness! Your family died because of you! Do you honestly think you'll ever be happy?! _

Screams threatened to erupt from my throat. Loud and deranged, I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep them from at bay. A knock at the door had me wiping my eyes and calming my breathing. "Come in" my voice was surprisingly calm, to my surprise.

"Dinner is ready. I trust you're ready?" Alfred said as he opened the door slowly, cautiously. Well, it was probably different having a girl in the house now.

"I'm ready" I said as I made my way out of the room, quickly at that, and accompanied him out and down to the dining room. We walked in a comfortable silence, and as we came into the room, a strong aroma of delicious smells filled my nostrils, making my mouth water.

I was left to pick my own seat, which was just fine by me, as there was only one seat to choose. I noticed then, that there was also only one plate placed at the table, right in front of the chair. A tightness formed in my throat, for reasons I couldn't place at the time.

"Where is Mr. Wayne and the boys?" I asked Alfred as he walked in to bring the ice tea that was to go with my dinner of grilled chicken with a pasta salad on the side.

"I'm afraid Mr. Wayne and the boys had an urgent business to attend to. They won't be able to eat dinner with you tonight, I'm sorry" he aplogized.

"It's fine, really" he smiled down at me, his eyes held a knowing sadness. He nodded once before starting to depart as well.

"Are you not going to eat?" I asked him. My face heated up with how desperate my voice came out.

His face was sympathetic as he turned to face me. "I don't eat with the family, I am your servant, so if you need anything, merely ring the bell. I'll be nearby" he stated. And then he left me by myself, true to his word. There was indeed a bell placed to the side of my plate, and that paranoia started coming back to me. It was fine, I told myself. It was just this once. I learned later that it wouldn't be just once that I would eat alone, but a regular thing. And there would be no escaping my solitude, my loneliness. God, I hated how weak I had become in a matter of weeks, days.

Was I not the girl who lived through poverty, lived with drug addict father, the psychopath of a mother, lived without a roof to her name, produced various meals for her siblings, never knew a true friend, who loved staying locked up in her room away from the real world to live in worlds which she ( and another) created. What happened to that girl, and who was this needy one?

I knew the answer to the question. She was killed along with her family, and what lived of her was the little girl who never got to live.

When I finished my meal, I felt even worse than when I had first left my room, so I didn't feel scared to go back to it. I surprised myself as I made my way up the stairwell and to the room I had been assigned. I stripped myself of my clothes and into one of the new night gowns that was placed in the closet for me ( along with various other things that a girl would need. Points to whoever had to go shopping for the 'girl stuff'). As I went to lay down, I noticed that on the window seal of my window, there was a vase full of roses. They were beautiful, and I concentrated on the falling petals, counting them to make myself fall asleep. I wasn't going to otherwise, I knew. So I counted the petals of the dying flowers until I succumbed to darkness. It was a pity that even beautiful things had to die eventually. I vaguely wondered when their time would run out as I closed my eyes to night, and awaited their opening to day.

-End, For now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own batman, the batman series, or anything from dc at all. All I own is my OC. On a side note, it feels weird to reread material I wrote. Again, edits were made to my old story/ chapters, and this one probably contains mistakes and parts that don't make sense.

* * *

_A house that lacks, seemingly, mistress and master,  
With doors that none but the wind ever closes,  
Its floor all littered with glass and with plaster;  
It stands in a garden of old-fashioned roses. _

_..._

_We do not loosen our hands' intertwining  
(Not caring so very much what she supposes),  
There when she comes on us mistily shining  
And grants us by silence the boon of her roses. _

_-Robert Frost_

* * *

I never expected for them to welcome me wholeheartedly, embrace me with open arms, accept me as part of their family. There was a nagging in the back of my mind though, that kept me dreaming though, forcing me to yearn for that which I so desperately wanted. A family, a family more specifically, that loved me, whom I needed, who needed me. But they let me dream, let me believe. I wasn't totally at fault. They shouldn't have strung me along, shouldn't have made me believe that I could ever really be, part of them. One can only be betrayed after all, by the one's they trust.

I decided it'd be wise to keep a diary of some sorts. Prowling through my things that I brought with me, I found a composition book that was meant to be used for academic purposes unused.I'm not one to actually use such a thing, but I figured it'd be a good thought to keep a reflection of the days events as they play out from now on. I don't need the added burden of loosing my sanity. I can at least communicate my thoughts, my feelings, to an inanimate object can't I? I don't care if this thing is found, I don't care if it's read. I have nothing to be ashamed of, I have nothing to lose. Not anymore.

* * *

I wasn't a morning person, not really, or rather not usually. But I was this morning in particular. The sound of footsteps making their way down the halls and past my room were audible enough to wake me. I was a rather light sleeper in my opinion respectfully. Even as a child, the whispers of my parents quitely arguing awoke me even before their yelling at one another commenced. I'd lay in my bed for hours along side Nadaly, my precious and beloved little sister, and try and reassure her that we were going to be okay. Being only fourteen months my younger sister though, she knew better already, as did I, that our lives weren't normal, they weren't acceptable, and they would never be _just fine. _

Anyways, the sound of footsteps woke me up that morning. There was no clock in the room, so I didn't know what time it was, but the dim rays of sunlight and the frosty air revealed to me that it was morning in the earliest of its fashions. With open eyes, I stared up at the ceiling, then with a start, bolted to an sitting up position on the bed.

Carefully, I slid myself out of bed, dancing around the rooms on my tippy toes and over to the door. If I was ever to be proud of anything in my whole entire life, it would be the fact that I was a very quite walker. Pressing my ear to the door, I listened to the footsteps stop at the room across from mine.

"We should have been here tonight. This is her first night here. Gosh, I still remember my first night here. Think about how she must feel" Richard's voice. It was clear even in a hush tone to me that it was the elder of the two boys.

"Yeah, well you know Bruce, work and duty first, family and feelings later" came Tim's whispered out voice.

"You know, I thought that it'd be different with her" Richard started. His hushed voice sounded urgent, as if he had wanted to say something he was afraid wouldn't be said in time. "You know, we're all guys here, and Bruce has only ever taken on boy wards. Well, I figured, okay. We're all guys, I get it. He doesn't have to be all feely feely right, because we're guys and we're suppose to be like that right? Well, obviously Bruce forgets that even little boys, are stil children. Children need to be shown love, affection, guidance blah blah blah" he paused, and I not wanting to miss any of his words cupped my ears and closed my eyes. A heavy sigh, Richard's probably, I heard. "Well I thought, you know, having a daughter would make him...I don't know. I don't know what I thought honestly..."

"No. You're right. She's a girl, going to be his daughter. I'm no expert or anything, but even I know girls need more attention than boys" Tim's voice sounded knowing, as if he himself had raised a little girl before and was warning Richard of the dangers of girls. I bit back a smile at the thought of him nodding his head in a knowing fashion. "I don't know about her though. She seems kinda...well, y'know...different I guess."

"Well hell Tim, the girl just lost her whole freakin' family for Christ's sake. I'm sure she's going to be needing help soon, though she's probably still in shock of the whole ordeal" Again, Richard sounded exasperated.

"I know I know. Geez, I'm just saying. Anyways, I think Bruce will figure it out sooner or later. She'll come around, and then he'll get a slap in the face you know?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, even he hates seeing girls cry. Hey, I'm going back to Blud Haven, be back probably to visit the little sis again some time this week. Tell her I said sorry for missing dinner tonight will ya?"

"Yeah, I'll tell her...You know, it sucks."

"That our new little sis is so pretty and you'll just have to fight your accursed teenage boy hormones around her? Yeah, I know?"

"...Sometimes I wonder what happened to you, and then I realize, I really don't care. Idiot." They weren't whispering anymore, so I could make out their voices clearly. His voice rose a pitch higher than it was regularly, indicating that he was embarrassed?

"Love you too little bro"

"Tch! Don't mess up my hair. And I was going to say, it sucks doing what we do, when I have school the next day."

"Haha! Hey, remember, it's the price of being-" He stopped right before he finished his sentence, on account of probably, that at that moment, the cold air was tickling the insides of my nose, and I let out a loud Achoo! And not even the cute kind either, because believe me, those sweet movie portrayal of feminine sneezes just wasn't programmed into me. Even while being safe guarded inside my room, I felt my face heat up, and not wanting to be caught in the act of eavesdropping, tip toed my way back to my bed, where I sat down under the covers.

_Knock, knock, knock. Silence._"Come in" I called out. The door knob turned ever so slowly, and two strapping young men, of whom were now my brother's shyly made there way into my new room.

"Heya sis. Good morning. Did you sleep well?" It was amazing to me how anyone's eyes could be that amazingly blue, but then again, everyone here seemed to have blue eyes. None the less, I quickly hid my face to hid the blush on my face that stemmed from Richard's watchful gaze. Looking up I saw that his eyes were sincere and light with amusement.

"Yeah, I slept alright. The bed's really comfy" I said patting the soft texture below me for playful emphasis. A smile plastered itself on Richard's face as he ran his hands through his long hair.

"Listen. Sorry about last night. We all really wanted to come and spend dinner with you, and there's no excuse I know but-"

"Something came up. We'll make it up to you" Tim cut him off with a roll of his eyes. Tim clearly wasn't one for long apologies. Neither was I.

"It's fine" I stated bluntly. There was no malice in my words, even though yesterday I had really wanted them to eat with me.

"Have you been up a while?" Tim asked, and though the question was harmless, he stared at me in such a focused way that I was sure it was like when criminals interrogated.

"Yeah. It was cold last night. It's still pretty cold. I'm not use to the cold weather though, so I've been laying in bed for a while now." It wasn't a lie, it was cold.

Tim stared for a couple of minutes longer before he took lifted the corners of his mouth. "For Gotham, this is pretty warm weather. You'll get use to it eventually, California. In the mean time, I'll get Alfred to bring up a couple of more covers for you so that you don't freeze your tail bone off" his smile grew wider at the last bit. I had thought that Richard was the only one capable of joking so far, but it seemed to me in that moment, that Tim just liked to be cool when Richard was around. Cute.

I found myself grinning back at the two brothers. My brothers. "Thanks."

"We'll, today we need to get you enrolled in school, but we'll make it up to you soon. I promise." The three of us turned to see Mr. Wayne standing in the doorway of my room. He looked amused for some reason.

"School? I thought I was an early graduate? Is your memory lacking Mr. Wayne?" I decided to try my luck. I really didn't want to go to school again. Aside from the fact that the very idea of staying inside a prison like institute for eight hours of the day was torturous, I couldn't stand the fact of not, well, not having her there with me at school anymore.

A sort of chuckle sounded deep in his throat. Tim turned to Richard and gave him a did I really just hear that? sort of look. Richard threw his hands up in response while shaking his head.

Bruce dismissed it though without addressing it again. "Get yourself up and ready, we'll be taking you to Gotham Academy to enroll you in school after breakfast. And again, call me Bruce Labyrinth, or I just might start calling you Rinny."I scowled at the nickname he threatened to me. It sounded cutesy, and I wasn't a cutesy type of girl. Richard let out a loud laugh, I guess, at the look on my face, while Tim smiled at me, a kind of teasing look on his face. Somehow, I guess, he's kind of like Richard in a sense. Then again, he just might like acting cool in front of his big brother. Oh wait, I already had that thought. Mr. Wayne threw me a you better do what I say look, daring me to challenge him again, it was all in good fun though, I knew that, and I was thinking of trying my luck again, but decided it would take to much energy to keep going back and forth between the two of us.

Richard started first out of my room. And I was just about to ask them to get out too. In a most polite matter though, not how I would usually to someone to get the hell out of my room. He must have guessed what I wanted. He turned to look at Tim, and once again, there was that mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Going to stay and watch our new sister change Timmy? Naughty naughty..tsk!" Richard couldn't help but letting out a disgruntled sort of laugh.

"Idiot! Why do you always-,you know what, never mind I don't care. Run your stupid fat mouth for all I care" Tim huffed out. His face was a bright crimson shade of red. He hurriedly made his way out of my room, Richard followed soon after still chuckling to himself.

Their voices carried down the hall and then I couldn't hear them anymore. Deciding they wouldn't be coming back, I let out a sigh of relief and went to close the door. It'd be embarrassing as hell to be caught eavesdropping so early on in my new life. My new life. This was what this was, I could see it clearly now. This was my second chance, because I did die that day with everyone else, I know I did. But I didn't, and thus, in my new life, I was already half dead.

* * *

**Richard's P.O.V**

As we left Labyrinth's room, Tim turned to me with a serious look in his eyes, of which I returned. It seemed he noticed it too."She was lying" he said simply.

"Yeah I know. Her cheeks were pinker than usual, as well as her nose. She must have been standing up out of bed or something in the cold. Think she heard us?"

"Yeah, I do, but there wasn't anything said really that she shouldn't have heard. And it's not like she's going to go running to Bruce anytime soon" Tim deduced. It was true. She didn't feel comfortable around Bruce at all yet, I could see that much. After all, she still called him Mr. Wayne. It was strange in my opinion. When I first came to Wayne manor, I might not have been very comfortable the first few nights, but I called Bruce, well, Bruce. Calling him anything else just felt weird.

I was lost in my thoughts, letting the silence fall between Tim and myself when I caught a glimpse of a moving shadow out of the corner of my eyes. I couldn't really make anything out, but it seemed to be watching us, Tim and myself that is. This person must have been really stupid to try and break into the Wayne Manor. I think Tim must have saw it too. As we turned a corner going to the kitchen, we both hid and waited for the person following us to turn the corner as well. After minutes of waiting though, the intruder never came. I jumped out from the wall I was hiding behind and ran down the hallways looking for the intruder, but found no one. There wasn't even signs displacement, nothing that would give away there was an intruder in the house. There was an eerie feeling in the air, the small hairs on my back were rigid. Though we didn't catch the shadow, I still felt like we were being watched. Okay, now I just sounded crazy.

"Weird"I heard Tim sound behind me.

"No. That's just plain creepy."

"What's just plain creepy?" I jumped at the deep voice that pierced through the tension thick air. I turned to face Bruce and gave him a light glare. When was he going to stop scaring me half to death? You'd think he'd have a little more consideration for the first boy wonder.

"Well-" I started, but I bit my tongue in the end. How was I suppose to sound not crazy? Well, it wasn't as if we hadn't seen some pretty crazy stuff before, but still, never in our own home had we had something like this happen.

"It's nothing" Tim finished for me. "We just got spooked is all. The manor looks especially creepy this early in the morning you know."

Bruce didn't seem convinced though. In fact, he had his Batman face on, the one that knew someone was lying when they were, that would do anything to get the information he wanted. And yet, he wasn't angry or annoyed, because he knew something too. I knew that much.

"I want to show the two of you something. And don't mention anything I'm about to show you to Labyrinth." Bruce warned in a hushed whisper.

"Creepy." Tim agreed.

-END, For now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own batman, the batman series, or anything from dc at all. All I own is my OC. Thank you to SteamPunk Spatter21 again for reviewing. It really encourages me to keep writing. A note I'd like to point out, the writings at the beginning are pieces of my oc's diary, not whole entries, and this is aside from the other journal that she keeps. Also, I feel like this story is going to get rated M pretty quick, so if you like it, I suggest you fav it or follow it so you can find it later on. I don't care if you don't review or not, just a heads up though, it won't appear on the front page anymore. I'm assuming they don't post up the rated M one's, though I could be mistaken?

Jesus, I'm not even sure if I'll have to change it after this chapter or not, but I guess I'll have to go reread the rules to find out.

* * *

_I had withdrawn in forest, and my song _  
_Was swallowed up in leaves that blew alway; _  
_And to the forest edge you came one day _  
_(This was my dream) and looked and pondered long, _  
_But did not enter, though the wish was strong:_  
_You shook your pensive head as who should say, _  
_'I dare not—too far in his footsteps stray— _  
_He must seek me would he undo the wrong. _

_Not far, but near, I stood and saw it all _  
_Behind low boughs the trees let down outside;_  
_And the sweet pang it cost me not to call _  
_And tell you that I saw does still abide. _  
_But 'tis not true that thus I dwelt aloof, _  
_For the wood wakes, and you are here for proof._

_- Robert Frost_

* * *

If there was a time that we doubted our own opinions of one another, we didn't let it show. If there was a time where we didn't believe the lies we told one another, we pretended to believe them anyways. If there was a time when our situations were gray, we pretended they were black and white. Well, as black and white as we could pretend they were. The fact of the matter was, things weren't black and white. They never were in my life. They never were at Wayne manor either. Especially when Jason came over. But that's one thing I can look back fondly at. No, there are a lot of things I can remember that still bring a smile to my face. I wonder if there will be a time where I forget about the bad long enough to linger on the good. I remember when Jason finally came. I was waiting for him, and I believe wholeheartedly he came because of me. I believe wholeheartedly that when Jason came, the air around _us _tensed, but the air around _them _cleared up some. I don't know if added on to my current state of mind, or if it gave me some sort of jubilation. Probably both, surely both, but more the previous certainly. All I know is, I smile whenever they look at me. When I'm alone in my room though, well that's a different story. I think it's better this way though. I shouldn't have tried to be someone I'm not in the first place. It was wrong of me to try and forget.

* * *

**Richard's P.O.V**

Bruce had us follow him to his room, which was never a good thing really. My thoughts kept fluctuating between the words f*ck, and holy sh*t. The only time anyone was ever called into Bruce's room was one, he needed to let Alfred know he wouldn't be home for dinner, two, he was forcing Tim to take the night off of patrol, and three, he was giving either Tim or myself a big *ss lecture. Usually hypocritical ones at that. I could feel myself staring at Bruce's back. Even with the material of his satin coat, with every step he took, the fabric would move along his elegant sculpted muscles. Even though I could only make out his back muscles, that didn't stop me from imagining the one's in front I couldn't see. My adopted father had a body that would make Greek God's jealous. One of the reasons I would never, no way in hell, ever see him as just my 'dad.' I felt myself smirk despite myself. Bruce wasn't called a playboy for no reason. I mean, it wasn't like he was going around getting laid with tons of women like people thought he was, but it wasn't as if he was a celibate either. _I _knew that pretty damn well.

When it came to things like that, there was never a misunderstanding between Bruce and me. We loved each other, plain and simple, though work made things a bit complicated between us. Not to mention he insisted in being a 'dad' before any other role, well actually, he insisted on being 'batman' first and foremost, but that's besides the point. Jason was another story.

I felt a pang shoot through me as the name surfaced in my mind. Just the name. Only the name. This is what it does to me. But he was never like that with me. God damn it, he was my little brother! He was my_ God damn little brother!_ And to hell if he didn't know I loved him like crazy, the hell if I didn't spend every moment I got _showing_ him that I did, and to hell if he didn't _love every minute of it._ Again, that smile made it's way to my face. He was the one that had started it. He was the one that was scared of the rain, much like I had been at that age, and stole into my room at the darkest hours of the night. He was the one that would graze my lips when he thought I was sleeping, snuggle into my body when I brought my arms around him to keep him safe. He's the one that wanted to, experiment, as he put it. Admittedly, I was the one that accepted, that was near tears of happiness when we did that, that broke my role as big brother and protector, when I reciprocated his feelings instead of doing the right thing and rejecting him.

I was the one that was missing him, and he was the one that died. It hurt like crazy, not having him here, not having his smiles, his smart-aleck sassy remarks, his shining green eyes. And I know, Bruce was missing him too, even if he put on that stone face. He was the Batman first and foremost. Jason was the Red Hood now. Things were all screwed up.

I shook my thoughts away. Tim was staring at me, and I wonder if he had been the whole time. I was really good about keeping my emotions and thoughts from escaping onto my exterior, something I picked up on from the one and only. The thing is, we all had, all three of us that is, so the effect was nulled when it came to putting on a face in front of one another. I smiled at Tim who in turn, gave my hand a quick squeeze before returning it to the side of his leg. A fleeting blush was visible on his face, but like me, he continued to stare at the back of Bruce. God, this kid was a cutie.

My thoughts returned to what had happened earlier. There was definitely someone watching us, following us. I'd understand if it was just my own paranoia, but Tim had felt it too, he had seen something, whatever or whoever it was too. We came to a halt in front of Bruce's room and once we were inside, Bruce immediately locked the doors and opened the curtains. Now, this in itself was so damn out of the usual that Tim literally did a double take. The little cutie. He turned from the door to the windows and blinked his eyes a couple of times, all while Bruce made his way to his desk to sit. Something was different in the room though. It smelled of herbs and spices, unusual for Bruce's room. I dismissed it though.

I went and threw myself onto Bruce's bed, letting the softness of his satin sheets engulf me. Bruce was a satin man. The comforter smelled of aftershave and a hint of sugar cane. It smelled like Bruce. I fisted the sheets and brought them around my body, taking in his aroma. I was grinning from ear to ear, looking straight at the bigger man sitting across from me, threw me a disapproving look. But it was teasing, understanding.

"Been to long since you've seen my spread across your bed like this huh? That's what you're thinking" I let out mockingly. Yeah, that was enough to earn me one of those famous batman scowls. I loved it. Hell, Tim loved it. I've come to learn, that Tim hated me teasing him, he absolutely detested it, but he loved me teasing other people.

"Shut the hell up" Bruce breathed out. He had one hand massaging the upper bridge of his nose, the other hand lightly massaging the side of his head. He could be so melodramatic sometimes. I wasn't even warmed up yet.

"Are you trying to tell me you'd rather not think about my body? Because if that's the case, then I can lose the weight, I swear I-"

"Richard, I swear to god that if you kee-"

"I thought you were an atheist Bruce?"

"Now's not the time" he finished, now rubbing both sides of his head. His 'work' expression crept onto his face, so I let mine do the same.

"So what's up?" Tim sounded in his usual serious tone of voice. The three of us glanced between each other quickly, once.

"Come look what was caught on the security tapes last night." Bruce's voice was stern and crisp, like he was daring one of us to debunk whatever he was thinking at the moment. Okay, well, that was weird. Tim caught my eye, his facial expression reading a clear 'what the hell' much like my own. I lazily made my way out of Bruce's bed. Tim was by my side as we came round to Bruce's desk to view the computer monitor. I felt my jaw go slack as the paused picture displayed for us was one of the outside of Labyrinth's bedroom window. My mind went blank for a minute, and I was at a lost for words. Thankfully though, Tim was never at a lost for words.

"Already?! Bruce, she just got here!" He hissed out through gritted teeth. His eyes were wide with disbelief and anger, and his fists were clenched at his side. Bruce stared back at him in mutual disbelief. Tim rarely voiced any sort of anger at Bruce. It wasn't like he never did though. He was just a goody-two-shoes.

"TIM! It's not like that" Bruce half growled out, trying to compose himself. We all knew what Tim was talking about, and I have to admit, that's immediately where my mind went to. For the billionth time, I was reminded exactly how unnatural our family was. A tingling sensation in the pit of my stomach warned me of what was about to happen, and neither Bruce, nor Tim would be happy about it at all. But I sure as hell would.

"Ha..haha...hahahaha...HAHAHAHAHA, OH GOD" my lungs were already begging me to stop, but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to milk the situation for all it was worth. "You got burned Bruce! HAHAHA-" a punch to my gut shut me up as the wind was knocked out of me. I keeled over onto the ground next to Bruce's desk, clutching my abdomen and groaning in discomfort, no, pain. I glared up at my assaulter.

"God I hate your laugh. I swear you sound just like joker" Tim somewhat seethed out. _Liar, you love it when I laugh, _I couldn't help but think.

"Tim! Richard" Bruce was standing now, and I swear on my dead parent's graves, he was just about ready to bury us in the god damn backyard.

"Low blow little bro, next time your mine" I whispered in his ear as I started up. Ha, that rhymed. Sort of. I wasn't about to test batman. Tim was blushing again, probably from the close contact. He was more reserved than Jason had been about those sort of things, much like Bruce was.

As I stood up Bruce gave us one last warning look before he played the footage. Tim and I leaned in, not wanting whatever had Bruce this riled up to evade us. The footage was clearly taken by the outside camera's facing in the direction of Labyrinth's room, all of which were either to small to detect or very well hidden by vines, brush, trees, etc. Labyrinth's window, along with two others beside it, were the key points of the footage. The yard in front was visible, as well as some bushes, gardens, whatever. The window was closed with a vase of roses able to be seen barely by the curtains within on the window sill (I spelled this wrong in chapter three I think :/ ). I saw nothing wrong.

"Holy shit" Tim sounded next to me. Ah sh*t, I spoke too soon. If it wasn't the three of us watching the footage in front of us, then it would have gone by unnoticed, at least by any normal person. I wanted to blink, to see that my mind was playing tricks on me. I may be a crime fighter, hero, yada yada, but there were just some things one never gets used to.

Labyrinth was clearly asleep, the lights were off, the time on the video read 3:13 a.m. So it was especially disturbing,when the windows opened, in a manner that was quick, deliberate, and from what he could tell, forceful. Yet, the windows didn't smack against the sides of the house like they should have at the speed at which they opened. What really sent shivers and chills down my spine though, was when the roses were tossed out of the vase into the bushes below. Then the windows gently closed themselves, like it had never happened. Oh great, at least whatever did that was courteous enough to be quiet. The footage ran for only several seconds more before the footage shifted to a different view of the manor. One away from the window.

Bruce stopped the footage, and for a while, the three of us stood in each others company in silence.

"At this point, we can't pinpoint what caused these occurrences, nor can we deduce that it was deliberate because of Labyrinth" Bruce started.

"It sure as hell wasn't the wind" I grumbled, getting into my own detective mode.

"It **was **deliberate though" Tim chimed in. He had his hand rested under his chin, clearly over the shock of what we had seen like Bruce and I were. The thing was though, these things never happened at the manor. Villains breaking in, yeah, our computers getting hacked, less likely, but it has happened (thanks to Jason).

"So why did you open the curtains before we started?" I asked, now curious to his reasoning. However it happened, whatever was watching us, the curtains being open wasn't going to help.

"Because after smudging a room, you're supposed to cleanse it. Sunlight is a cleanser that stops supernatural entities from entering rooms, at least malevolent supernatural entities" he answered with a stoic face. Okay, made sense. That would explain the smell of the room at least.

"I don't think anything is in here" Tim said as he walked about the room, inspecting it like he was looking for someone in a game of hide and seek.

"No, there isn't. There wouldn't be anyways, we aren't being considered a threat" Bruce seemed pissed as he said this. I was pissed. There was nothing that would get on someone's nerves more, than to know someone or something was going around pretending to be master in their own home.

**Labyrinth's P.O.V**

I vaguely wondered if perhaps Alfred had thrown out the roses in the vase. Well, it was a normal thing to do. Once flowers begin to die, you have to throw them out to put new one's in. It was a shame though really.

I got myself out of bed finally after several minutes of them being gone. Stretching my limbs, I made my way to the closet to pick out some clothes to wear for the sure to be long day. I didn't get there right away though.

As I started opening the two doors, my body was yanked backwards by some force, violently at that. My head started pulsating from the sudden spin of the room that my eyes took in, first the walls, then ceiling, then floor, all in a time from of about .13 seconds. My attacker held his weight onto my body,keeping me from moving. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see any type of disfigured creature. I had hoped I'd get to be free of them for at least a bit longer. A hand tangled itself into my already tangled ebony tresses. A scream formed in the back of my throat, and I opened my mouth to let it out, only for it to be covered with the my attackers other hand.

"Don't even think about it missy" his voice, definitely male, commanded me.I was forced onto my knees as my attacker pulled me up by my hair."Open your eyes, I want to get a good look at my new little sister" his voice was sarcastic, I noticed, with underlining hints of bitterness. Part of me was glad that I could be sure my attacker was real, was human. The other half was now pissed that I was being attacked. Another rough tug on my hair let me know that I was being too slow for my attacker.

I begrudgingly opened my dark eyes. I met a pair of green ones. I betrayed myself as I gasped out in sheer surprise. Green raging eyes were staring back into mine, so full of chaos and passion, yet void of emotion that I for a moment forgot I was furious. His face neared mine, the hand laced in my hair gone only to relocate itself between the v of my face. I felt my heartbeat pulsating between my ears. I couldn't focus properly. I was so very conscious at that moment of every breath I was taking, and the long pauses in between them. I dropped to the floor as the hands supporting me abruptly let go. I stayed on the floor after I was let go long enough for me to get readjusted with my surroundings, and long enough for the pounding in my head to fade a bit. I was shaking in anxiety and anger now. I slowly stood up, coming face to face with my green eyed attacker, of whom was calling himself my brother.

He smirked down at me, his eyes dancing with pleasure at my emotional state.

"Well, aren't you a cutie. I should have figured it'd be another brunette. Bruce loves them looking like him. Kind of conceited huh?" he mused as his left hand came to play with a lock of my hair. I attempted to swat his hand away, but he grabbed it was more force than I could muster in my whole body. We stood staring at each other again, and that's when I took in his features. He was tall and lean, much like Richard, less than Richard though, but more so than Tim. His dark hair was long enough to be shaggy, but not long enough to come below the nape of his neck. His face was well defined in a pretty-handsome sort of way, long elegant nose, sharp jaw structure, delicate thin lips and sunken in eyes. He was clothed plainly in a black fitted t-shirt and straight slightly worn jeans, also fitted, and cuffed at the bottoms, which revealed his black steal toe looking apparently Mr. Wayne was prone to taking in good looking young boys.

"And you are?" I found my voice finally. I wasn't angry anymore surprisingly. Well, those are my emotions for you. Now I was curious. How many sons did Mr. Wayne have?

His smirk widened so that it met his eyes."You mean, they didn't tell you about me? I'm wounded, positively offended" he started out. It occurred to me, that both of us were keeping our voices relatively low, normal. For whatever reason, I was playing along. "Girly, I'm your big brother Jason. You should be happy I came all the way here just to make you feel welcomed" he finished. He walked about my room, arms behind his head now, and then threw himself onto my bed. Whatever he was doing, whatever reason he was there and had done what he did, I didn't care anymore.

"Do they know you're here?" my voice came out quite and calm. He stayed lying down, gazing up at the ceiling. No answer.

"Do they-"

"No, and they're not going to" he threatened. "At least not yet...No, I can't pass up this opportunity." He sat up suddenly, taking me in. And I mean really taking me in.

"Hmmm, seems I was wrong. You're no replacement. More like a doll being cared for really. Seems I came down for nothing" he breathed the last part out with a low whistle following the remark. My eyes widened as I remember finally. Wasn't this the son that was supposed to be dead? When did he get into my room? How the hell did he get in my room? I shook my head. It didn't matter really. And those were probably the wrong questions to be asking anyways. He looked at me, and opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped short when the sound of footsteps coming down the hall approached. He stood up like he had been waiting for this his whole life, whatever this was.

"I guess it's time for those idiots to know I'm here. You can refer to me as master by the way, or your excellency. Whichever works for me" he laughed. I'm sure he was joking. He had to be joking. The door swung open to reveal all three members of my new family present. Immediately all eyes were locked onto Jason, though each person displayed a different emotion on their face. Mr. Wayne, detachment. Richard, sorrow. Tim, anger.

"I know. I know. You're so happy to see me you're at a loss for words" came the cynical first greeting. And then all hell broke loose.

"You f*cking b*stard!" Tim lurched forward.

"What are you doing here!?"Bruce demanded.

"Jason" Richard barely managed to whisper out.

And this all happened in about two seconds tops.

-END, for now.

* * *

Guys, I'm not checking for mistakes, so sorry for that. I'm too lazy/tired for that. I'm kinda okay with this chapter, but kinda not. I don't know. Anyways, leave a review if you can, if not, then that's fine too.


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